Addison Global’s Player Base For Sale as Business Winds Down
Addison Group, owners of MoPlay, have called in the liquidators to wind down the business. PricewaterhouseCoopers Edgar Lavarello is the designated provisional liquidator, and Addison hopes to sell off the group’s customer base to pay liabilities.
Addison Global’s Player Base For Sale © Pixabay.
In the first update since Addison Global becoming insolvent, the company is currently displaying the following message on the MoPlay website: “On the 19th of February 2020, Addison Global’s gambling licenses were suspended in the public interest, including to protect the interests of consumers.”
“On the 25th of February 2020, Edgar Lavarello of PricewaterhouseCoopers Limited Gibraltar was appointed the Provisional Liquidator of Addison Global Limited by Order of the Supreme Court of Gibraltar.”
“In consequence, all MoPlay’s activities were immediately suspended, and customers have not been able to access or withdraw money from their accounts.” The statement continues:
We regret this situation and apologize for all the inconvenience and hardship caused to customers. We are presently exploring possibilities to resolve this situation by seeking to enter into arrangements with the aim of safeguarding the customer balances.
The statement concludes with, “we thank you for your patience, and we confirm that we will make another statement to all our customers as soon as there are any developments on which we can update you.”
When MoPlay announced the cessation of UK operations, many customers took to social media to voice concern that they would lose the outstanding balances in their MoPlay accounts. A few people who held accounts posted screenshots of the terms and conditions that MoPlay published, fearing this confirmed they would forfeit funds. The T&C’s read:
Section 9 – all terms and conditions can be accessed here – reads: “Your funds will be held in a separate bank account from all our other business accounts. Your funds will be held separate from company funds in a mixture of a bank account and reserve funds which we hold with our payment processors. However, if there was ever a situation where we became insolvent, your funds would not be considered separate to the other company assets, and you may not receive all your funds back.”
It is understood that the liquidators will be seeking a seven-figure price for MoPlay’s existing player database. Thought to contain 40,000 active users, a sale would help the company settle customer accounts.
Other creditors who Addison Global have a liability to are believed to be affiliate and business to business partners of the firm. Star Sports and Virgin Bet are reputedly interested in purchasing the database, but neither operator has made an official confirmation on a potential deal. There is a sad sense of irony about the timing of the liquidation announcement from Addison Global.
During last year’s Cheltenham Festival, the MoPlay brand posted a special deal on the odds comparison site, Oddschecker. The special, a 20/1 deal on Altior, proved so successful that MoPlay claimed 10.7% of new customer offer clicks on the site. Over double their nearest competitor, who achieved 4.3%.
The bookmaker had sponsorship deals with Premier League clubs such as Manchester United but financial problems led to the Gibraltar Gambling Licensing Authority revoking Addison Global’s licence on the 19th of February this year. The following day, the UK Gambling Commission also revoked Addison’s licence, forcing the brand to stop UK operations.
